voice_actors_from_the_worldfandomcom-20200215-history
Invader Zim
Invader Zim is an American animated television series created by Jhonen Vasquez for Nickelodeon. The series centers on an extraterrestrial named Zim from the planet Irk, and his mission to conquer Earth and enslave the human race along with his malfunctioning robot servant GIR. He is antagonized by Dib, a young paranormal investigator who is determined to stop Zim. Vasquez pitched Invader Zim to Nickelodeon, who desired a series for their older demographic. As the series went on, ratings declined and budgetary issues became more frequent. Before the second season was completed, Nickelodeon cancelled the series, leaving several episodes and a planned TV movie series finale unfinished. The show first-ran on Nick from 2001 to 2002, with a handful of second season episodes going unaired; although these episodes were later seen on Nicktoons Network in 2006. Invader Zim was met with critical acclaim, winning an Annie Award, an Emmy Award and a World Animation Celebration Award, with nominations for six Annie Awards and a Golden Reel Award. The series centers on Zim (voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz), a member of the imperialistic Irken race, an extraterrestrial species whose social hierarchy is based on height, rather than any type of skill. The Irken leaders, known as The Almighty Tallest (Wally Wingert and Kevin McDonald), rule the Irken Empire together because they are exactly the same height. As recounted during the series premiere, "The Nightmare Begins", Zim, who is both very short and very naive, was banished to the planet Foodcourtia for absentmindedly attacking his own planet and allies during Operation Impending Doom I. When Zim learns of Operation Impending Doom II, he leaves Foodcourtia and arrives at the Great Assigning, where Irken Elite soldiers are chosen to become Invaders–soldiers whose missions are to blend in with the indigenous life forms of their assigned planet, collect intelligence and prepare the planet for conquest by the Irken Armada. Zim pleads with the Tallest to assign him a planet and, in a desperate act to get Zim as far away as possible, they send him on an arbitrary mission to a planet on the outskirts of their known universe which has never been explored. Zim is joined by GIR (Rosearik Rikki Simons), an ineffective and erratic Standard Issue Information Retrieval (SIR) unit. As it turns out, this "mystery planet" is Earth and Zim forms his base of operations there. According to the DVD commentaries, Invader Zim takes place in an alternate universe of its own, with a present-day Earth somewhat more technologically advanced than the real Earth. The remainder of the show centers on Zim's time "infiltrating" the human race at a school, or in his home planning attempts at world domination and the enslavement of humanity. Opposing Zim is his classmate Dib Membrane (Andy Berman), who is obsessed with the paranormal and supernatural and is determined to expose Zim as an alien. Supporting characters include Dib's cynical sister Gaz (Melissa Fahn); Zim and Dib's teacher Ms. Bitters (Lucille Bliss); and Dib's father Professor Membrane (Rodger Bumpass). Later in the series, villains begin to appear, including Tak (Olivia d'Abo); a fellow Irken seeking revenge against Zim; Lard Nar (Fred Tatasciore), the leader of a resistance group called The Resisty who wants to overthrow the Irken Empire; and Sizz-Lorr (Jim Wise), Zim's former employer on Foodcourtia who attempts to recapture his employee. Apart from eight double-length episodes (including the debut), each episode is a self-contained storyline. Some occurrences from previous episodes are mentioned, but there is little continuing storyline other than the main invasion plot. However, towards the end of the show, a larger universe of characters and organizations were introduced to build continuity: Tak appearing and seeking revenge against Zim; Dib's capture and repair of Tak's spaceship to travel through space; resistances to the Irken Empire such as the Meekrob and The Resisty; and various other devices which were becoming more and more a part of the show's central mythology. Cast Category:Nickelodeon Category:Cartoons